Replacing text that is used as a mask in AD
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I am using Templater to replace text in an AE composition for lower third graphics that uses that text as a mask for a color layer underneath it.
When I Spot Check my data, Templater processes correctly, but makes that Type layer visible. Since it is visible the mask doesn’t work and the text comes out all white rather than the gradient we are looking for.
If I set up my Google Sheet to turn the layer off, then I get a blank field.
Ideas?
Thanks!
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Unfortunately, due to some peculiarities in the way that Adobe’s plugin language works, any layer with Templater applied will need to be visible in order to work correctly.
However, we’ve encountered similar issues in the past, and there is a workaround. Basically, we’ll need two text layers, one to read the Templater Data and one to do the masking. Once we have the layer that’s bringing in the data (we’ll call this text1), we’ll want to create a second layer to do the masking (I’ll refer to this as text2).
Once both layers are present, we’ll want to open the properties of text2 and expand the Text property until we find “Source Text.” Once we’ve located “Source Text,” we’ll want to drag the pickwhip from “Source Text” to our text1 layer. This should map the data from text1 to text2, which can then be made visible or hidden as needed.
Hopefully, that makes sense, but if you have any questions, let us know, and we’ll be more than happy to help out in any way we can.
Thanks,
Jeff
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Thanks! I got it to work. Additional question. When I Spot Check, I get an extra Spot Check. It is totally blank, and I can’t see what frame it is exporting. I only have one marker in the composition. I looked at the log and it doesn’t seem to indicate that a second frame was exported. Any ideas?
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Glad to hear that we were able to get the previous issue resolved. As far as the erroneous Spot Check goes, we did have a bug a few versions back that would cause this to happen when Projects were using some specific frame rate options.
What version of Templater are we running? If it’s anything older than 3.2, I’d recommend updating to the latest version (3.3.2, download link here) to see if that changes what we’re seeing. If that doesn’t make any difference, we’ll likely need to get some more information on how exactly Spot Check is set up and what frame rate options we’re using for this project.
If we end up needing to go down that road, please feel free to open a troubleshooting ticket with us at support@dataclay.com if you don’t feel comfortable sharing project details here. Either way, let us know how it goes, and we’ll see where we need to go from there.
Thanks,
Jeff
